[NYAFF Interview] Toshiaki Toyoda, Director of ‘Blood of Rebirth’

As the New York Asian Film Festival fades into memories of martial arts splendor, revenge fueled school teachers and surreal samurai swimming in the waters of rebirth, we have something to bring it back to life like it never left. Toshiaki Toyoda is both a controversial and acclaimed director in his home country of Japan. Known earlier in the decade as one of Japan’s most promising cinematic exports (Blue Spring, Nine Souls, Hanging Garden), Toyoda’s career was cast into the shadows of guilt after being arrested on drug charges and then subsequently blacklisted by the conservative Japanese film industry.

Back with a vengeance and a message of rebirth, renewal and revenge, Toyoda’s Blood of Rebirth (read my review here) is a sullen masterpiece bred from a dark place in an frustrated artists mind. Check out my interview with the young talent as he explains the experimental nature of the film and how at its core it really is a reflection of his soul.